This morning just before eight on the BBC radio 4 Today programme, there was a short feature on treatments development in Broadmoor Hospital. To the general public it would have been a set of interesting interviews at the hospital outlining experimental treatments using computer games. But I was taken aback, not by the angle of perhaps quirky treatment focussed on by the interviewer, but by a statement that the hospital told the Today programme that they would “not allow any interviews with patients.”
Now I thought we had entered an age of twenty first century mental health policy and that government has, throughout the last ten years and more, developed a positive policy of service user - patient involvement - in policy developments and the delivery of services (which of course involves ‘treatment’). And I also thought the principles of service user involvement had been well embedded in the NHS and mental health services.
It’s a pity the Today reporter(s) were not aware of the anomalies contained in the Broadmoor statement. Challenging it would have made a much more interesting feature.
Now I thought we had entered an age of twenty first century mental health policy and that government has, throughout the last ten years and more, developed a positive policy of service user - patient involvement - in policy developments and the delivery of services (which of course involves ‘treatment’). And I also thought the principles of service user involvement had been well embedded in the NHS and mental health services.
It’s a pity the Today reporter(s) were not aware of the anomalies contained in the Broadmoor statement. Challenging it would have made a much more interesting feature.
Comments